2016-06-30

It's a lazy afternoon. The room is dim. The sky is wearing cloak of darkness. I can't bear the cold which is melting my skin to death. A cup of tea is done. A second one is on the way in another hour. It's the only saving grace to keep me warm and, of course, the Scotch.

There are too many things to do. Projects are falling on the lap. I was done with one last week and here waiting Monday to follow developments on this count. Looking forward to a super busy week, working from home and dabbling with books, writing assignment for an Indian-based magazine in Dubai and, of course, ghost writing for a book. Creatively, it's my first mega project and it's no cake walk, to work out tiniest details with the client. At times, I dunno where to put my and feels like am sitting on a volcano, ever ready to make my ass explode in bits and pieces.

There are quite a few interesting posts that I tried to write on this blog. When I first started, the aim was to target the youth and speaking on issues that affect them, be it love, romance, sex, disappointment and what's not. Today's youth are very gullible. But, over the years, the blog made a diversion by publishing political satire, poetry and mindless stuffs. I am making an effort to stay true to the original idea of getting back to the original theme of the blog, ushering in its fifth year this November, me thinks. I am not very sure of that.

It's the 10th post of the month. I was initially thinking of penning a short story, romance or something else but I am in a hurry and hence, unsure whether I'll be able to do justice to fiction. Better skip that and share with visitors tit bits on my life. It's been quite an eventful year, right from leaving the job, death of an elder cousin in London and struggling for money. Thankfully, June which is also the birthday month has also brought loads of luck and happy surprise. It was against all odds that I landed one-week project as a consultant which I finished. It's quite a herculean task to do something new and it's always good to learn. The money paid was good. I sought fulfilment which I derived once I was done with the project. There are some expenses that I wrapped up thankfully, loans, EMI and sundry expenses. Time to limit them but there are always temptations.

Last week, I ordered two books on Amazon, Barkha Dutt's This Unquiet Land and Salman Rushdie's Two Years, Eight Months, 28 Nights but cancelled. I was being charged a bomb. It's such a dampener to readers of good literature. Thankfully, I have the local bookshop who is ordering on my behalf for a good price. I am dying to buy books such as Book Thief, Paulo Coelho, Bastard of Istanbul, Flea Market and many more. But, need money for that. Guess, I will buy over a couple of months. Right now, reading Farthest Field by Raghav Karnad and it's an amazing book on participation of Indian soldiers during the second world war. The description, narrative and the author's command on vocabulary makes it a riveting affair.

Time to say bye now and better get set working on stuffs for the day. I shall spend the night gulping Whisky pegs with channa and watch Euro Semis to keep the body warm.

2016-06-29

We are in an unrestricted Zone. It seeks no moral policing stickers in the cordoned area, 'Friends not allowed.' It's our Friends Forever Zone as growing teens sashaying into adults and college-goers dudes and babes.

Image credit: http://pixel.nymag.com/

It's our space where we do things our way, needing no Gyan on what and what's not to do. After all, we are the rebellious types who knows the A to Z of things where the days of sting bees are looming in the past. We need no society approval on who is best or worst for us. Friends are, after all, our moral support system and a shoulder to lean on when we live alone in an apartment or hostel in the city. It's a simple rule: Be cool and chilled out. If the drift or vibes are on, we are in! In an age where relationships' balance keep changing at every kiss or fuck, you know right the Friends in Benefit types for casual sex, true buddies are the ones that make us balanced and functional.

1. 4 a.m Friend

Yes! The 4 a.m Friend. We all need one or a spate of them that makes us rollick in laughter, bitch about Maggie's double dating, the time that chick you are pursuing leaves her flat or comes back, the handsome dude with the killer look and boring teachers. It's friends offering quick-fix-solutions when the dude or babe you were madly into ditched you in the lurch, fuck-up with parents, or you were planning to get laid last night and it went awry when nosy neighbors or family got into the loop, threatening to tell your parents about it. The 4 a.m friend/s is/are not just about bitching or quick fix but are always there at 4 a.m and beyond when you piss them off their bed. They love you to death and more than eager to listen to your rant, make you hang on when you nearing a mental wreck. In plain terms, they will listen to you patiently without judging and may take their bike to land in front of your day to hug you.

2. Use Friendship/Facebook types

You meet them everywhere and not just on campus but the only katta beyond your college circle, Facebook. You hear from them either on your birthday, scribbling how cool you are and the best buds in town. Once, someone said in class during a lecture, 'Friendship is time pass.' It falls under this type of use friendship where you don't ink a statement in your heart and you know that the next day, everything will fizzle where all of you will flit in different groups. This friendship is all about giving company when bored to death and sharing a good laugh over coffee is quite an option or just saves the day when the only option is to go for a movie solo. It comes handy when you wanna get introduced to that hot chick.

3. Gyaan giver

Now, this one doesn't make a fuck of a difference in your life but is forever ready to enter the universe to give you gyaan on what you wearing, why you dating X or Y or the choice of clothes are morally twisted. The dude or bad is screwed in the head and takes immense pleasure to tell what's right or wrong with you and why you shouldn't get high on weed, casually date or party till late night. Such friends' life revolves around moral or religious crap for they never had the ball to rebel against their parents who control their existence. So, they wanna you be like them or act like parents. Chuck them out for they are not just trouble but negativity who are never shy in pissing you off.

4. Daaru 'Chaddi' Buddy

Every Saturday, the friend ping with 'Daaru Peena...Let's get drunk' and you know where to find them. You meet them on the streets and you head straight to the adda, doing a topsy turvy act of hugging each other on the busy road and staying away till 2 a.m, Such friends give you company in doing your silly antics inside the house, shouting loud and breaking the laws. They are so much fun to be with and make your college days memorable by singing and acting loud enough to wake up neighbors in the middle of the night.

5. Wanna get hooked

It's your deal or Fuck buddy type. You chill together and get the vibes as gen x dude and babe type who knows that tomorrow you will share a cuppa coffee and hug after the act. Why look elsewhere for a fling or one night stand when someone you know surrounds you? The only hitch is when sexting translating into the act attracts emotional spark, luv shuv and doing it at your own risk. The whole equation piles on regret and goes for a toss. Kiss and don't tell!

6. Yeh Dosti hum nahin todenge

This type of friendship is the one what defines you and will continue to do so over the years. You've been through thick times and thin times where you've been shouting at for screwing up for they know you inside-out. They are your inner strength and will do anything for you, put you on the right track when diverting from life. Loyal to the core, fighting and laughing together, they are your world. You are never an option for them. It swings both ways. Always stick with them and be there through thick and thin. That's what friendship is all about. True friends stay together for life. It's the siblings we never had.

2016-06-28

The atmosphere is tense. Legs are numb. The familiar coffee shop is
plotting to make you its worst enemy on the planet. Your feeling is under
siege. You sit on a lone table, fidget with your handset and get all hyper. The
world ain't coming to an end or getting brexit'ed. It's simple. Your crush is
sitting on that table waiting for someone. Make your move smartly, you duffer.
She can be waiting for her boyfriend or friends. You fuck and you are gone for
life the moment her friends storm and serenade her like Cinderella. God save
you, if you are all alumni of the same college.

You think, think and think what to say so that you may not land up in a
soul called stupidity. After all, it's not now on the spur of the moment you
gonna read a book on the art of conversation. Think at your own risk! It will
wipe away the time which is on your side and it's precious like water. A time
bomb of sort is tickling. You gotta be fast before she is taken and the poor
you may just end up sulking. Or, be worse off to admire and watch her guffaws,
smile at every small thing, at a far-off distance.

You can casually just look into her eyes to hint that you are interested
but remember don't you stare. Chuck off the things that I've done for a long
time and it is pretty lame. Like walking to her and say, Hey, I am XYZ! I wanna
be friends with you and waited for long to strike a conversation.’ She might
just give you the number of the wife of the Pehelwaan she is pally with in the neighbourhood
or change the calendar date of Rakhi just for you.

Well! You may just walk to her in a charming manner and pretend to ooze
confidence-even if you don't have in you-and ask whether she'd like to join you
for a conversation. It can work and may be not, depending on your luck. Done
that! It worked a couple of times but was not too much into her...vibe was
good, talkative chat and blowing smoke curled in the air. But, then, we were
regular at the college hang out and she saw me a couple of times. You get the
drift, right!

What else...what else! Pretend walking to the loo or on call and come
close to her table, halt for a second or two, smile before you continue your
way to the favourite spot. She reciprocates and just say a simple, 'Hi'. Throw
the missile, ‘You come here regularly? We haven't seen each other and invite
her to join you’ or with something like this 'May I join you?’ If she agrees,
don't get into bloviating mood as if you've just met the love of your life of
the past birth like Heer Ranjha type. She may just say, 'I am sorry! I am
waiting for some friends.' Smile, say no problem or ‘may be’ next time and walk
back to your table.

Better luck, next time. Yeah! That's right. Don't rush into things or
hit the panic button for hormonal changes in our body can propel us to act
weird and asking for phone number at the wrong time. The next time, you see each
other and exchange glances for there shall be a nod. Time to carry the converso
forward and you can casually ask for phone number...tab whatsapp during the
night. You can turn into a call centreJ

Still, if you are unable to approach her for every time you plan your
moves, her friends act like a movie spoiler. Don't lose heart. You are just
human and not a hunk. Who says only the hottest dudes get the girl? Make friends
with her BFF or someone in the group and be smart. You will soon join them at
the coffee table conversation and line maro, compliment her gracefully after
being introduced.

Don't be desperado. Sometimes, we behave so much drooling eyes type over
our sugary babe that she gets the ink that we too much into her. Be as normal
as possible. Make your eyes speak for few seconds. Cut the crap. Enjoy your
date with her and walk her home or to the rickshaw stand. The best thing flows
happen during such fun walks, be the joker and the butt of jokes. Girls love to
laugh.

2016-06-14

Memory is like the magical wand. Over time, it fizzles like dust flying out of thin air and nicely hidden in the misty cloud. We try to live closer to reality yet the good times struck us like pricking sensation on the skin every now and then. In our quest for everything wonderful to repeat itself pretty much like the time that wheezed away, we lose and strive, at the same time, to discover our real selves. After all, where has the hay days gone? It feels like yesterday only.

Picture credit: Awanija Sharma.
The days of glory with Professor Joseph Lobo, Pravesh Jung Sir and students of Fergusson College, our batch at the Katta.

Today, a classmate and a very wonderful girl Awanija (Thurday) tagged me in pictures of college days with our most favorite Professor Lobo Sir, dressed in his trademark sleeveless blue denim cardigan along with Jung Sir, who shared a laugh as they stood at the college Katta during some fest going. Yes! Fergusson College is a famous for putting the desk at the Main Circle or Katta where volunteers sat and did stuff. There were students standing and sitting, laughing together and it kindled decade old memories like a flash point. Truly, a Kodak moment in an age where phone camera were not tucked in every tiny pocket. It's been a decade when we left our alma mater Fergusson College, the place that gave us priceless memories. These were the best days of life where we stood face-to-face with our destiny. It was the best thing that ever happened to us.

Why do we hold on so much to a time that elapsed where everything neared perfection? Honestly, it feels like yesterday only where nothing on earth could ever go wrong. The pictures sent a floodgate of good moments spent together, making me emotional and drop of tears spurted on the cheek. I mean, it's so vivid and lively, traveling to the past that I adored. At times, I feel whether such things really happened to me or I just woke up from three years old slumber, imagining some random and perfect college days. I can't help getting the jittery sensation of being out of sync with reality that is too much for the brain to take. Flashback! Reality! Flashback. Again Reality!! It sends shock waves that travel faster than the light to the grey cell, a tale of two worlds alien to each, and being stuck like glue together. Quite a herculean task! Trust me on that. It seems like a thriller potboiler that connects the dot in one's life.

There were special days when we would storm our way in college, pretending to be early birds which we were not, by the way. Wallstreet or Oorja were our college fests. Superhits!!! On a normal day, an invisible ghost would be a better student than us, attending the first lecture of the day as early as 7 a.m but we were not. Of course, college fests were an exception to the rule.

Once I attended my Sociology lecture after ages during the first week in January 2005 when Vishal Sir, my namesake, greeted me, 'What a pleasant surprise. Vishal in class. New Year resolution.' We spent our time, not in lecture halls but Savera, the now defunct restaurant just opposite college, the hang out spot of Fergussonians. It was the best of time. Ha! How can I forget the only lectures I would attend were those of Bhalerao Ma'am Economics lecture and Lobo Sir's Philosophy. Yes! Lobo Sir's class was curry for the soul, discussing at length about ethics, marriage, euthanasia, friendship, freedom, sexuality and religion, just a few things my silly mind is able to recollect.

It feels like a moment of a lifetime shimmering in all its forms and magnificent glory in the box called brain. Think about it, frolicking throughout the year, skipping lectures to laugh in our favorite hang out, watching movies, college festival and freaking out three months before exams. We had a date set with Xerox wale bhaiya, borrowing notes from our diligent friends and hopping across the road to get things done. What a treasure trove of memory carved in Pune! It was pure bliss and selfless love. We lived life King Size, took things for granted, be it our friends, college, and life itself. Pure and simple souls we were and yet to explore the vagaries of a ruthless or bad world. It wouldn't be wrong to say that we were shielded from nastiness. Friendship was and is still very pure to our eyes. Yes! I was immature and getting worked out over petty squabbles.

The college years defined and gave us an identity which still mirror our reality as human beings. This memory gave us a reason to smile, cheer, laugh and cry as we harked back to the past where we studied together in group, shared notes and discussed exam timings over SMS. It was a beautifully simple world where Facebook never existed nor did WhatsApp! Social networking meant meeting everyone in person and no plan was made, but landed straight to Savera or college.

There are moments that we can never dissociate ourselves from. It's called memories that would bear such an impact on our growing years, seeking the small pleasure of life in all its hues and forms. No word can describe that era where every moment of life was relished unlike the fake and mechanical glory of sharing every possible shot on Facebook or Instagram.

Innocent crushes, there were many. The sheer excitement of falling for someone and drooling over her, adorned our college lives like the honey drop. Some of them became super awesome and loyal friends who stood with us through thick and thin. We made so many good friends, who shouted at us for being such assholes or idiots, bore the brunt of our anger and laughed at our stupidity. The times spent were priceless and blessing falling from sky.

It would be quite a task to revive a dollop of goodness and perhaps, a memorabilia won't suffice to recollect the awesomeness flung at us by life. We laughed and cried the loudest, indulged in immature antics and behaved at our stupidest best. Our personality and emotions came alive and college days made us who we are today.

I can't believe it's been 10 years since college life ended. Somebody, please give me back those days of flawlessness. Everything was painted white and not black. I still remember sitting with Aditi who taught us Philosophy and me & Neraj fighting or my coffee breaks. Aditi was laughing at how her students keep fighting or exited her class to make coffee in the kitchen, every now and then.

Or, the stupid Environmental Studies lecture we gotta attend on Sundays and how much we whined about it. Yet, we had no choice to be able to get our SYBA mark sheet. Facepalm! Winking!! It's another story that some of us faked our friends' attendance by writing down their roll numbers at the end of the lecture since they were too busy sleeping after Saturday night parties. And, the project to had to be submitted on Monday. It was a Saturday. I chilled as if the project was some game played by our college and the filmy buff in me chose to watch Filmfare Awards instead when Adi and Neraj came down on my neck urging me to copy someone's neatly designed project with quotes cum pictures. I recall Neraj visiting us and told me, 'You are too chilled out.' Finally, someone submitted for me on Monday when I was busy somewhere, doing what I don't know!! Thanks for such friends who corrected my project which was a total mess and made it appear presentable.

Stealing happiness;

We made life happen;

Memories were just a name;

We opened our palms to grab stars;

It shall remain etched forever;

in our nerves;

Soulful experience that didn't leave us and never will.

Stream of tears,

longing for moments to reappear.

You know what's magic?

Once it happens, it will probably never repeat again

Bringing a smile to faces and gently stroking the heart.

It's such fragrance in our lives that never let me give up on anything, no matter how tough and rough things can be. Memories of our college days echo happiness in all its forms and the joy or insanity cannot be described in Shakespearian terminology. There are so many emotions flowing right now to describe the re-kindling of feelings, sorely missing those college days, friendship and happiness that cannot be traded for anything else. A time in life where race, class, creed, color or class didn't or will probably never matter. Grateful to what life has offered!

Postscript: The post was prompted by Awanija tagging me and a couple of other friends-cum-classmates or comment by Avneet on our famous Xerox trip.

2016-06-05

I am a Liebster Awardee on this blog...first time, first time. It made me feel on top of the world when Indian Drama Queen, our own Dee Dee not Didi, nominated me with Liebster Award. You can check her out on Indian Drama Queen Did I say that? Oops!! Bad Boy! I mean check her blog.

Here, we go with the format for accepting Liebster Award.
Liebster Blog Award is all about connecting and forging the bond with blog fellas. Peer nominated where we send some love to our favorites and help grow our network.

Indian Drama Queen goes by the name Dee Dee is fun to read and I guarantee that you won't leave her space without getting your dose of blogotainment (I just coined a term for entertainment on blog for Dee Dee).

Liebster Interview with Dee Dee

1. What is the best thing that has happened to you?

Studying at Pune's most prestigious Fergusson College and living in the city. Days of bliss, falling in love and discover life. Like cherry on the cake.

2. What is that one thing or incident in life that you regret?

No Regret but we only make life experiences, good or bad. Well!! Try to live up by the Philosophy, Zindagi Badi honi chahiye lambi nahin, Babu Moshai from Anand.

3. If there is one person in this world you would get to say Sorry, who would it be and why?

Already told it to a friend and love interest from college. I plucked the courage after a decade and told it to her on Facebook. She's at her sweetest best. I am relieved and it was hanging on my head like a sword.

4. What is your most searched word or phrase on Google?

Ha! Do you remember whom you made love to yesterday? Kidding! There are so many things I google on net and honestly can't remember. Tanmay Bhat! Nah!! May be Arnab Goswami. For sure, some new words related to writing. Yeah! I love doing that, always in quest of fancy vocabulary to impress people.

5. Who is the last "Received call" on your mobile phone (Eg: carpenter, dad, a friend)? I call myself to chat for nobody ever call me except to cancel a meeting or ask for their borrowed money that I assumed was given for free.

6. What is the wallpaper on your mobile phone (Eg. Nature, my family, my pet)?
Some random, colorful mountainous and grass view. I have lost the art of being smart with the phone.

7. If ever, you get an all paid trip anywhere in this world, where would you go?

Ibizza for some hot and sensual romance, dare and bare.

8. What is the worst pick-up line used on you?

I am all yours!!

9. What is Happiness for you?
Happiness means freedom and following one's heart without constraints. Loving unconditionally, be the rebel forever and don't take a job as a constraint.

10. One advice you would give your teen self?
Explore life fearlessly, chuck out what-ifs, experiment everything be it sex, falling in love and don't be scared to fall down. Learn a new musical instrument or language. Explore life. Pack your bag, see the world, sleep at railway station with hardly any cash. Never go with the crowd. Be a godamn rebel.

11. If there was a life after death, what would you want to be reborn as?
May be a film actor or a writer. Yes! To be born as a film actor and book writer. It works for me. Tell you a secret, I wanna be famous where Paparrazi would train their shots on me.

Liebster Blog Award rules

Write a blogpost about your nomination, displaying an image of the award.

Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.

Answer the 11 questions the person who nominated you asked you in his/her blogpost.

Nominate 5-11 other starting bloggers who you think deserve this award, and come up with 11 questions of your own for them to answer.